Automatic binder for netting

ABSTRACT

In general, this invention relates to a device which automatically binds the loose end of a roll of the metal wire netting, commonly known as &#39;&#39;&#39;&#39;chicken wire,&#39;&#39;&#39;&#39; to the roll itself; more specifically, it relates to apparatus which locates the final strands of wire and bends them back into the roll, thereby securing the free end.

United States Patent Arthur E. Vick 3 Broad Meadow Ave., Millbury, Mass. 01527 Jan. 22, 1969 Feb. 23, 1971 Inventor Applv No. Filed Patented AUTOMATIC BINDER FOR NETTING 12 Claims, 7 Drawing Figs.

US. Cl 140/107; 72/130; 1 40/ 1 13 Int. Cl B2lf 15/04, B2lf 33/00 Field of Search 140/3, 4,

24,34,105,l07,IIl,1I3;72/l4, 15,130,146; 242/78.1; 29/513; l00/(Inquired) References Cited UNITED STATES PATENTS 980,104 12/1910 Kitselman Primary Examiner- Lowell A. Larson Attorney-Norman S. Blodgett ABSTRACT: In general, this invention relates to a device which automatically binds the loose end of a roll of the metal wire netting, commonly known as chicken wire, to the roll itself; more specifically, it relates to apparatus which locates the final strands of wire and bends them back into the roll, thereby securing the free end.

pmtmmmzam 7 3.565130 SHEET 1 OF 5 INVENTOR. ARTHUR E. VICK ATTORNEY #ATENTEU FEBZS IHZI I SHEET 3 [1F 5 AUTOMATIC BINDER FOR NETTING BACKGROUND OF THE INVENTION It is common practice in the wire netting industry to bind manually the rolls of netting after they have been automatically rolled and cut. This operation is performed by pushing the trailing strands, one at a time, into the cells of the web by hand and hooking the strand back. This is, of course, a slow procedure and, as is known to those familiar with the working of cut wire, a dangerous one. These and other difficulties experienced with the prior art devices have been obviated in a novel manner by the present invention.

It is, therefore, an outstanding object of the invention to provide a binder for metal netting which can be operated automatically by remote control or can function without human supervision.

Another object of this invention is the provision of a binder which can be integrated into a standard automated coiling system, with little or no change in the system itself.

A further objectof the present invention is the provision of a binder which eliminates the need for human contact with cut wire.

It is another object of the instant invention to provide a binder which can function at speeds and for durations impossible under prior art methods.

A still further object of the invention is the provision of a binder which operates very rapidly to lock the free end of a coil of wire netting.

With these and other objects in view, as will be apparent to those skilled in the art, the invention resides in the combination of parts set forth in the specification and covered by the claims appended hereto.

SUMMARY OF THE INVENTION In general, the invention consists of a holding member having a saw-toothed edge which enters the cells of the trailing end of a roll of chicken wire, and presses it against the roll, and of a hooklike bending member located over each tooth which engages the strand that follows each cell. As the hook passes over and around the tooth, the strand is bent into the spaces in the roll and, thus, the freeend of the roll is secured. The apparatus is then withdrawn in reverse sequence.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS The character of the invention,however, may be best understood by reference to one of its structural forms, as illustrated by reference to one of its structural forms, the accompanying drawings, in which:

FIG. I shows an elevational view of a binder embodying the principles of the present invention as associated with a standard coiling machine;

FIG. 2 shows a closeup of a workhead forming part of the invention;

FIG. 3 shows perspective view of the binder;

FIG. 4 shows the details of a bending member;

FIG. 5 shows the details of a holding member;

FIG. 6 is a schematic illustration of the basic concept of the invention; and

FIG. 7 shows the binding sequence in schematic form.

DESCRIPTION OF THE PREFERRED EMBODIMENT Referring first to FIG. I, the automatic binder 10 is shown mounted adjacent a standard coiling machine 11, which includes rotators (not shown) at each end of a roll of woven wire netting 12. The drawing also shows a cutter 13, a roll cradle 14 (into which the roll will fall after being operated on), and a hand rail 15 behind which the operator is meant to stand. It should be understood that the wire netting described in this specification may be, for example, of the type known as chicken wire." For those unfamiliar with the term, chicken wire" is a form of light-gauge wire woven into hexagonal-patterned netting, the hexagonal cells having leading and following corners along the line of length.

In this embodiment of the invention, a workhead 17 is mounted on a binder support 16 by means of a pivot 20. It is situated so that the workhead rests on the roll, with contact being made at a control bar 21. An adjustable limiting chain 19 keeps the head from interfering with initial coiling procedure. A brace 18 is attached to the hand rail and serves to stabilize the device. The coil is rotated in the clockwise direction.

In FIG. 2, the workhead 17 is shown in greater detail. Behind the control bar 21 is located a contact switch 22 which stops the coil rotation and starts the binding cycle. Mounted beneath the pivot 20 is the binder 23 itself. The binder consists of a housing 24, a slot 25 in the'housing, and a saw-toothed holding member 26 slidably mounted in the slot. Also present is a hydraulic cylinder 27 which controls the depth of the holding member in the slot, a binding tooth 28 at the underside of each sawtooth, and a bending member 30 which is mounted for hinged motion about a pivotal axis 29 on the holding member.

FIG. 3 is a detailed picture of the binder 23 itself and of the binder control system 31. The bending member consists of a hook. bar 32 on which the hooks are attached and which extends from the hook body 33 which is hingedly mounted on the pivotal axis 29.

In FIG. 4, the hook bar 32 is shown with its hooks 39, depth rod 37, cable 38, and return spring 40. The hook body 33 is provided with a slot 35 to slidably accommodate two sets of depth rods and cables.

FIG. 5 shows that the front edge of the holding member 26 has protrusions or sawteeth 41 which are spaced to accept standard chicken wire cells. At the bottom of each tooth 41 is a binding tooth 42. On top of the holding member 26 are the pivotal axes 29 that support the bending member and attaching eyes 34 that hold the ends of the cables 38 (see FIG. 3). At the rear end of the holding member is mounted a hydraulic cylinder 44 which controls the depth of the holding member in the housing 24. Furthermore, there are two hydraulic cylinders 45 and 46 attached between the back end of the bending member and the holding member.

Shown in FIG. 3 is a control system 31. The contact switch 22 mentioned before is mounted behind the control bar 21 and serves two functions. First, it activates a braking relay 47 which stops the rotation of the coil and, secondly, it activates a motor relay 48 which starts a cam motor 49. The cams 50 and 51 control the hydraulic cylinders 44, 45,.and 46 by means of hydraulic control valves 52 and 53. The control valve 53 has a feedback device operating through wires 54 which, at the ends of the cycle, deactivates the motor and brake relays, thus starting rotation and stopping the motor until the contact switch is operated again.

FIG. 6 shows schematically the basic binder with its sawteeth 41, hooks 39, and binder teeth 42. Following the sequence in FIG. 7, view A shows the device with the control bar 21 resting on the coil 12 as it rotates clockwise and the trailing end 55 approaches the bar. The binder 23 is positioned away from the roll. In view B, the trailing end passes the control bar, springs out and hits contact switch 22, thus stopping rotation and starting the binders tangential motion, as seen in view C. In view D, the binder tooth 42 has engaged the final cells and pulled the roll tight. In view E, the hook 39 comes down with radial inward and rearward motion that bends the trailing strand into the roll and back around a lateral strand. The binder then disengages itself in reverse order, the roll is dropped by the rotators, and a new roll is started.

On the basis of the above description, the following implementation can be readily understood. Wire netting coming off the production machinery is engaged by the rotators and the roll is begun. As the roll grows, it contacts the control bar 21, which keeps the inoperative binder away from the roll. At a desired size, the supply is cut and the trailing end is rolled up, passing under the control bar. After passing the control bar,

the end springs radially outwardly. The contact switch 22 is tripped by the trailing end 55. The switch closes the relay, stopping rotation and closing the motor relay, thus starting the cam motor 49. The first cam reaction is in cam 45 which activates valve 53 and expands cylinder 44, thus extending the binder tangentially into the roll to engage and tighten the trailing end. A few degrees later the cam 50 activates valve 52 which expands cylinders 45 and 46. The cylinders 45 and 46 raise the rear of the hook body 33. This motion pivots the hooks down and takes up the slack in the cables 38. When the slack is gone, the cable draws the hook bar back into the hook member groove 25. In this way, a down-and-back motion preferred for this operation is performed and the binding is accomplished. Disengagement includes the extraction of the hook member, extraction of the sawtooth member, a signalling to the relays to release the brake and stop the cam motor. It also includes the releasing of the rotators, thereby dropping the coil into the cradle 14. This cycle can be performed entirely automatically or it can be performed semimanually in varying degrees by adding remote control to the relays.

It is obvious that minor changes may be made in the form and construction of the invention without departing from the material spirit thereof. it is not, however, desired to confine the invention to the exact form herein shown and described, but it is desired to include all such as properly come within the scope claimed.

l-claim:

l. A device for binding a roll of wire mesh, comprising mechanical fingers located adjacent to the roll, and means for activating the fingers to push the trailing strands into the roll.

2. A binding device as recited in claim 1, in which the mechanical fingers are operative as a unit to form a bending member.

3. A binding device as recited in claim 1, which also has a holding member for locating and holding the trailing strands during the activation of the fingers.

4. A binding device as recited in claim 3, wherein the holding member has one edge formed with protrusions, the protrusions being spaced to engage the openings of the trailing end of the woven wire as said edge approaches an unbound roll of wire in opposition to the motion of said trailing end, and wherein the mechanical fingers are formed as pans of a bending member and each finger presents a surface facing toward a corresponding protrusion, said surface having a motion along a path extending from outside the roll into the roll in front of the protrusions and under the protrusions.

5. A binding device as recited in claim 4 in which the holding member is a flat plate of generally rectangular configuration, one edge of which is formed with the said protrusions.

6. A binding device as recited in claim 4 in which the protrusions are wedge-shaped when viewed radially of the roll and having a pointed end which enters the roll first.

7. A binding device as recited in claim 4 in which each protrusion is equipped with a tooth attached to its lower side and extending from the protrusion and forming with the protrusion a corner in which a piece of bent wire might rest.

8. A binding device as recited in claim 1 in which the fingers have concave surfaces.

9. A binding device as recited in claim 4 in which each finger has a concave'surface directed toward the protrusion.

10. A binding device as recited in claim 4 in which the bending member performs its motion by swinging on a single pivot located above the holding member.

11. A binding device as recited in claim 4 in which the bending member performs its motion in two modes, first swinging on a pivot located above the holding member, and secondly moving radially of that pivot.

12. A binding device as recited in claim I in which the operation is controlled by a remote operator. 

1. A device for binding a roll of wire mesh, comprising mechanical fingers located adjacent to the roll, and means for activating the fingers to push the trailing strands into the roll.
 2. A binding device as recited in claim 1, in which the mechanical fingers are operative as a unit to form a bending member.
 3. A binding device as recited in claim 1, which also has a holding member for locating and holding the trailing strands during the activation of the fingers.
 4. A binding device as recited in claim 3, wherein the holding member has one edge formed with protrusions, the protrusions being spaced to engage the openings of the trailing end of the woven wire as said edge approaches an unbound roll of wire in opposition to the motion of said trailing end, and wherein the mechanical fingers are formed as parts of a bending member and each finger presents a surface facing toward a corresponding protrusion, said surface having a motion along a path extending from outside the roll into the roll in front of the protrusions and under the protrusions.
 5. A binding device as recited in claim 4 in which the holding member is a flat plate of generally rectangular configuration, one edge of which is formed with the said protrusions.
 6. A binding device as recited in claim 4 in which the protrusions are wedge-shaped when viewed radially of the roll and having a pointed end which enters the roll first.
 7. A binding device as recited in claim 4 in which each protrusion is equipped with a tooth attached to its lower side and extending from the protrusion and forming with the protrusion a corner in which a piece of bent wire might rest.
 8. A binding device as recited in claim 1 in which the fingers have concave surfaces.
 9. A binding device as recited in claim 4 in which each finger has a concave surface directed toward the protrusion.
 10. A binding device as recitEd in claim 4 in which the bending member performs its motion by swinging on a single pivot located above the holding member.
 11. A binding device as recited in claim 4 in which the bending member performs its motion in two modes, first swinging on a pivot located above the holding member, and secondly moving radially of that pivot.
 12. A binding device as recited in claim 1 in which the operation is controlled by a remote operator. 